Flames GM trades son to 'Canes

RALEIGH, N.C. 
Roughly one week after Brett Sutter was jailed following a bar fight, his father traded him away.

Calgary general manager Darryl Sutter sent his son Brett and defenseman Ian White to the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday in exchange for defenseman Anton Babchuk and forward Tom Kostopoulos. The Hurricanes announced the trade about three hours before their game against Ottawa.

The younger Sutter is getting a fresh start. The trade came roughly a week after the 23-year-old got into a fight outside an Arizona bar and was jailed briefly on suspicion of assault.

Calgary assistant general manager Jay Feaster said the trade was being talked about before that incident.

"This discussion took place going back to the end of October, beginning of November," Feaster said on a conference call. "He was a player that Carolina identified as someone that they wanted in the deal. So it evolved from there."

Brett Sutter had been sent to the Flames' AHL affiliate in Abbottsford earlier this week for a conditioning assignment, and the Hurricanes said he will report to their AHL affiliate in Charlotte.

"One of the things that Darryl has always prided himself on is being able to separate out the personal relationship and the business aspect of what it is that we do," Feaster said. "We were in a situation where Brett was not playing, he was not able to crack the starting lineup and hadn't played in an extended period of time. ...

"It was a decision that was made ... in the best interest of the hockey club."

Sutter had one assist in four games with the Flames this season, averaging roughly 10 minutes of ice time in his fourth professional season.

"Brett Sutter was part of this deal all along," Carolina general manager Jim Rutherford said.

White, 26, had two goals and four assists in 16 games with Calgary this season, and had career highs of 13 goals, 25 assists and 83 games played while splitting the 2009-10 season between Toronto and the Flames, who picked him up in January in the Dion Phaneuf trade.

Rutherford said he first inquired about White's availability when the season started, and talks accelerated after the Flames signed defenseman Mark Giordano to a five-year contract extension last month.

The roster shakeup came a few days after the Hurricanes "were embarrassed" in giving up a combined 15 goals in consecutive losses to Philadelphia and at Montreal.

The deal also ends Babchuk's latest stint with the Hurricanes. The defenseman with a hard slap shot scored four game-winning goals during Carolina's run to the Eastern Conference final in 2009.

He played last season in Russia but agreed to a one-year deal with Carolina in July, and had three goals and five assists this season.

Kostopoulos had one goal and three assists in 17 games this season with the Hurricanes.

To help fill the holes in the roster, Carolina also recalled defenseman Brett Carson from Charlotte and had him in the lineup for the game against the Senators. It marks Carson's fourth stint with the Hurricanes this season.